Politics Need Not Be a Blood Sport, Says Toronto Mayoral Candidate

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Volume 4, Issue No. 30
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Sunday, August 29, 2010
~ Media coverage of the upcoming election in Toronto has been confined to a few candidates, none of whom speaks about the concerns and issues of a long neglected constituency -- the huge and vote-rich "visible minority". Thirty-seven are running for mayor of Canada's largest city yet the media focus is only on five. One candidate, Phil Taylor, breaks from the mudslinging mould of the five and provides a refreshing look at city politics. No traditional politician he appears to be. He preaches harmony and amity in the face of current adversities. To him, politics need not be bloody and insulting.

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Phil Taylor at Toronto's financial district.

INTERVIEW WITH PHIL TAYLOR
Politics Need Not Be a Blood Sport,
Says Toronto Mayoral Candidate


By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

TORONTO -- With the way mainstream media is portraying the Oct. 25 election, voters don't seem to have much of a choice. As if there's a dearth of qualified people.

The truth is, out of the five candidates getting all the media attention, there are thirty-two others less conspicuous but probably more qualified to run Toronto as mayor.

For the most part they are faceless, no name recall like a Miller or Ford, or a Harper or Ignatief, but just as enthusiastic to change the culture of politics at City Hall.

Consider Phil Taylor, author, public speaker, motivational guru.

Soft-spoken with an immense capacity to bear no malice towards anyone, he refuses to engage in the current muck-racking among the mainstream media's five, namely, in alphabetical order, Rob Ford, Jose Pantalone, Rocco Rossi, George Smitherman and Sarah Thomson.

Every tired word, every irrelevant issue, every little gaffe are magnified a thousand times by these media and re-echoed a hundred thousand times more in cyberspace so long as they are spewed from any of the five mouths of the talking heads.

It is in this context that Phil Taylor is a refreshing sight, perhaps a re-energizing change for all Toronto.

"I choose not to make this politics a blood sport," he declares in an interview with this reporter. It is his belief, he said, that running for a public office need not be that bloody and insulting.

Taylor preaches love, harmony and amity not for the sake of maintaining the status quo, as in the way public affairs are run and managed at City Hall, but as a means of evoking positives from everyone and preserving goodwill inherent in every man.

Asked why he stays quiet amidst the rancour among the candidates, he retorts: "That's not the path I want to go down".

(An earlier live interview is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ9h4OrGl5A&feature=channel )

Taylor premises his run for Toronto mayor on the glaring fact that only 35 percent of registered voters have gone to vote in the past elections.

"This means people are discouraged," he explains. "They're not showing up in polls".

He adds: "That also means that people in positions of power and the candidates themselves are not addressing the majority of Torontonians".

"The core is this: People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care," Taylor states, sounding philosophical.

"The real question is: Do they really care? I just want to know if you care about me," he says.

Taylor does care enough for Toronto and its 2.48 million population (5.5 million in the Greater Toronto Area) that he wants to roll back taxes if he gets elected, and cut the mayor's salary. At least those two items are high in his agenda.

"Half of their (the population) life is being hijacked by the government through taxes," he explains. "We are not finding solutions by increasing taxes," he adds.

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To know more about the election, please visit the city's official website at: http://www.toronto.ca/elections/
For the list of candidates, please visit: http://app.toronto.ca/vote2010/findByName.do?lastName=all

(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author and the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 4, Issue no. 30, August 29, 2010. Email at: PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com).

For other stories, please visit:
1. http://currentsbreakingnews.blogspot.com/
2. http://torontonewsroom.blogspot.com/
3. http://timecircumstance.blogspot.com/
4. http://travelsthemes.blogspot.com/  
5. http://gotchajournalist.blogspot.com/  .

For news videos, please visit and click the links:
1. Tanza's Karakol in Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7is306RJtTE&feature=channel
2. Warriors' Day Parade in Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzz_t6gm_Aw&feature=channel
3. Bicol Canada Holds a Fiesta: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIdLxGckFhs&feature=channel
4.Toronto's Fetish Fair: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op1qMCTzslA&feature=channel
5. Part II of Pistahan sa OLA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAnedigYdkM&feature=channel   
6. Pistahan sa Our Lady of the Assumption: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZCp_iHdnIc&feature=channel
7. Santacruzan in Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkE1Jk7_U6U&feature=channel
8. Beauties & Queens of Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5CCCUneQ1I&feature=channel  
9. Shirt as a Medium to Foster Pride in the Philippines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQszB31Coq8&feature=channel  
10. Katrina Halili and the Signing Stars in Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnnQ_nV9CT0&feature=channel  

The Assassination That Brought Changes in the Philippines

President Cory Aquino after a meeting with foreign correspondents in Malacanang.

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Commentary
Volume 4, Issue No. 29
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /


. . . . . A community service of Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Thursday, August 19, 2010
~ I thought I had the biggest news coverage of my professional career when bombs were exploded at a political rally in Manila's Quiapo district on August 21, 1971 that nearly wipe out the political opposition. It was my baptism of fire. Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. wasn't there providentially. Twelve years to the day later in 1983, the bigger story happened. Aquino was felled by an assassin's bullet at the tarmac of the Manila airport as he returned from exile. It's been 27 years since his death and the memories of that coverage remain vivid, etched forever in my mind. The much bigger story, perhaps the biggest of all, was when his widow took power three years after his death in 1986, kicking out the hated dictator Ferdinand Marcos and setting off dramatic changes in the Philippines. Now the Aquinos' son, Benigno Simeon III or P-Noy is president.
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PREROGATIVE
By Romy Marquez

MY NEWS COVERAGE 27 YEARS AGO
The Assassination of Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. --
the Event That Fueled Big Changes in the Philippines


TORONTO -- I never had an inkling that after 27 years, the son would try to fill in the shoes of his father and attempt to live the legacy of his mother.

One generation is gone and another is just unfolding. That's basically the story of the Aquinos -- from the former senator Benigno Jr., to his wife Corazon, to their son Benigno Simeon III. That's also the story of the Philippines, condensed in a sentence.

But the struggle has been long and laborious from the time Benigno Jr., aka Ninoy, was felled by assassin's bullets on August 21, 1983, to the transformation his death had fueled, to that moment his widow, the popular Cory to many, had been catapulted to the presidency the senator had had coveted.

Now, his namesake and only son, Benigno Simeon alias P-Noy, is president, less than a year after Cory had died on August 1, 2009.

These transformative events happened in all of 27 years. And thanks, and no thanks, to Ferdinand Marcos, the Aquinos had been in and out of the corridors of power that Ninoy had craved for and which Cory had despised.

I was among the several dozen foreign correspondents who covered Ninoy's homecoming on August 21, 1983 at the Manila International Airport. As events would later turn out, it was going to be one of my biggest news coverages ever, next only to the People Power revolution that was to happen three years later.

Then, the talk was rife that Ninoy would be arrested upon landing. The worst-case scenario was that he would be shot. Quite a few, however, had ruled this out, saying Marcos would not take such a gamble on a very popular critic that Aquino had been to him. He would be afraid to fan widespread unrest.

Some foreign correspondents wagered that while an assassination was possible, it was also implausible. The eyes of the world were upon Marcos and his totalitarian rule.

The airport was an unlikely scene. Being under the control of the military, the blame would inescapably be on the military, which, under a martial law situation, would mean the very top man in the political and military hierarchy. That meant Marcos.

So the general expectation was that he would be felled in transit as he's taken from the airport to a safe house or to the nearby Fort Bonifacio where he would be kept on house arrest.

Such a discussion continued with Aquino's relatives who were on hand to welcome him, among them, his sister Lupita and her husband, ABC reporter Ken Kashiwahara, and brother Agapito "Butch" Aquino, Salvador Laurel and many others in the opposition.

I was covering the arrival for my principal, Japan's Asahi Shimbun and my string, Germany's Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

The Japanese had an immense interest in Aquino, he being the scion of another Aquino who had been a friend of many Japanese politicians, specially during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. In fact, the Aquinos are quite popular in Japan as his father had collaborated with the Japanese along with President Jose P. Laurel.

But within minutes of the plane's arrival from a stopover in Taipei from the United States, Aquino lay dead on the tarmac.

The first news dispatch via satellite phone to Tokyo and Hamburg was a crisp one-liner: "Aquino shot upon arrival".

That first witness account flashed all over the world was enough to trigger an avalance of pre-written stories, awaiting a new lead that would come from Manila.

The second one-liner was more expressive than the first: "Aquino feared dead by assassin's bullet".

In the hours that followed, the airport was in chaos. Soldiers from the Aviation Security Command had formed a wall to stop the growing number of people who wanted to get in.

Meanwhile, we rushed to the Army hospital inside Fort Bonifacio where Aquino's lifeless body was taken. He had already succumbed by the time his army escorts made a show of whisking him for medical aid.

Between 10 p.m. and midnight, Aquino was brought to his Times St. home in Quezon City. His mother, Dona Aurora Aquino, had made sure Ninoy wore the same clothes he had had when he was shot.

I was there. I was one of the very first journalists to witness how his mother grieved while standing next to his coffin.

(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author and the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 4, Issue no. 29, August 19, 2010. Email at: PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com).

For other stories, please visit:
1. http://currentsbreakingnews.blogspot.com/  
2. http://travelsthemes.blogspot.com/  
3. http://gotchajournalist.blogspot.com/ 


For news videos, please visit and click the links:
1. Toronto's Fetish Fair: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op1qMCTzslA&feature=channel
2. Part II of Pistahan sa OLA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAnedigYdkM&feature=channel
3. Pistahan sa Our Lady of the Assumption: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZCp_iHdnIc&feature=channel
4. Santacruzan in Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkE1Jk7_U6U&feature=channel
5. Beauties & Queens of Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5CCCUneQ1I&feature=channel  
6. Shirt as a Medium to Foster Pride in the Philippines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQszB31Coq8&feature=channel  
7. Katrina Halili and the Signing Stars in Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnnQ_nV9CT0&feature=channel  
8. Toronto Mayoral Candidate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ9h4OrGl5A&feature=channel


For newsvideo coverage of Caribana, North America's largest Caribbean parade, on Saturday, July 31, 2010:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLzF2QNBw3U&feature=channel
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBJfXcSaX8o&feature=channel
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHLiC6wyLZo


For post-G20 summit coverage:
1. Sideshow at Bubbles for Peace Protest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UzRcsnvnSY&feature=channel
2. Bubbles for Peace Protest at Queen's Park in Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITFztAw9-5o&feature=channel


For video coverage of the G-20 summit, click the following links:
1. The other side of protest at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buJvzJm-E5A&feature=channel
2. Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRYY6xhuOW8&feature=channel
3. Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEX5W6Xgfy8&feature=channel
4. Part III: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWm3_GAw4Kk&feature=channel
5. Part IV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q6OMZ53xzA&feature=channel
6. Part V: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4IIek0-_ZE&feature=channel
7.Part VI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQO7om6gPro&feature=channel
8. Part VII: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icDJYp_Fx-c

Iconic Symbol of End of World War II

This sculpture is a replica of the famous "Times Square Kiss" photograph of nurse Edith Shain and an unidentified sailor during the celebrations following the end of World War II in New York City's Times Square. The nurse in the picture passed away in June at the age of 91.

The huge sculpture adorns the Embarcadero lawn fronting San Diego Bay, which is right across from the submarine base in Point Loma.

August 14 this year is the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Philippines was dragged into the war in the Pacific theatre after the Japanese attack on the US base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

(Photo by Romy Marquez 3.25.2007)

True Stories of Sacrifice, Misery and Triumph by a Filipina Caregiver

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Feature
Volume 4, Issue No. 28
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
 . . . . . A community service of Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Thursday, August 5, 2010
~ Shedding a tear or two is inevitable while reading these stories of Filipino women toiling long hours in strange lands for the precious dollar that would allow their families to lead decent lives. Back home the opportunities are rare if non-existent, so they steel themselves and prepare for what fate may bring them as caregivers. One sad story leads to another, and another, more or less having the same circumstances of sacrifice, misery and triumph. Analyn D. Aryo -- caregiver, author, nanny -- writes "Nanny Tales" and makes a vivid portrayal of who these women are, why they dare do the back-breaking grind, and how they manage to maintain their dignity in the face of despair.

Analyn D. Aryo shows a copy of her book "Nanny Tales"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

AUTHOR ANALYN D. ARYO
'Nanny Tales' of Sacrifice, Misery and Triumph
Documented in a Book by Filipino Caregiver


By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

TORONTO - Analyn D. Aryo was halfway through getting her masters in agriculture at Benguet State University in the Philippines when she decided to embark on a different route, away from the academe and into a strange new world she had no difficulty conquering.

Now again, she looks into the future brighter than when she rolled into its unchartered course a few years ago in Hongkong and lately, here in Toronto.

The plant pathology major literally uprooted herself from Benguet where she was born and raised, to face the challenges of being part of a large family handicapped by lack of opportunities.

From a would-be agriculturist, she transformed herself, embraced her own reality, and went into something any Filipino, man or woman, can good-naturedly provide -- caregiving. Be it to strangers or family, the legendary Filipino hospitality is heartily shared. That, in a sense, is caregiving.

Analyn, now 30, is a caregiver, one of the many thousands of Filipinos who comfort and attend to families with kids and elders requiring a watchful eye and a diligence to serve.

Some people might find it surprising that the youthful-looking nanny is university-educated and has the facility to express herself orally or in writing in a language not her own.

But that is typical of Filipino caregivers, housekeepers, nannies, or what have yous, who have settled in Toronto and elsewhere in Canada. They are smart and highly-educated.

In the case of Analyn, she's probably the only active caregiver who's authored a book, aptly titled "Nanny Tales".

The 160-page volume the size of a pocketbook is fictionalized to protect the featured individuals but is based on her personal experiences and stories from other nannies she met in Hongkong and Canada.

The book reads like a serial soap opera minus the acting, for the players are real people caught in life-changing situations. They could be anyone's mother, sister or neighbor enduring and suffering in silence so that those left behind could manage to live decently.

But more than the personal accounts that tug at the heart and which the book chronicles, it is the insight that gives an understanding of why these nannies would put up a strong front and gamble with life and the future.

The stake is so high, basically the welfare of their familes in the Philippines, so that the home and family -- the husband, the son and daughter -- stay intact. Still, the heart-breaking saga isn't rare when a husband breaks his vows or a son or daughter goes astray.

When Analyn made the decision to become a caregiver in Hongkong, it was largely based on her belief that it would open doors for new opportunities. "Besides," she explains in an interview, "it was the easiest to apply".

She's the sixth of seven children of an Igorot family of the Applai (Besao) and Bontoc tribes of Mountain Province.

Analyn D. Aryo autographs a copy of her book.

"There wasn't much of a personal growth," Analyn says of her work as a staff writer and layout artist at the local department of agriculture in Benguet.

She had intended to be a journalist, her writing skills honed way back when she wrote for the high school paper and later as editor of the school organ in college. In Hongkong, she wrote an editorial for the SUN newspaper and won first place. After that, she got herself involved as playwright for the stage play "Migrant Collective".

Analyn moved to Toronto in 2007 and now works as a nanny.

From the time her book came out, the usual profile of a Filipina caregiver is getting a drastic makeover. No longer are they derided, according to her.

"Those who are not caregivers now understand the caregivers. There's more appreciation for them and what they do than before," Analyn proudly states.

In the meantime, Analyn continues to attend to her chores in a household in suburban Markham. One who wouldn't boast, she quietly enjoys the peace in her anonymity as a writer and book author. Her employers don't know.

"There are some things I need to keep to myself," she stresses, as if her book "Nanny Tales" -- now out there -- would guarantee she wouldn't be found out.

(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author and the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 4, Issue no. 28, August 5, 2010. Email at: PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com ).

Here's the complete set of newsvideo coverage of Caribana, North America's largest Caribbean parade, that took place on Saturday, July 31, 2010. To view, click the links:

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLzF2QNBw3U&feature=channel
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBJfXcSaX8o&feature=channel
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHLiC6wyLZo

For other stories, please visit:
1. http://currentsbreakingnews.blogspot.com/  
2. http://travelsthemes.blogspot.com/  
3. http://gotchajournalist.blogspot.com/  .

For news videos, please visit and click the links:
1. Santacruzan in Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkE1Jk7_U6U&feature=channel
2. Beauties & Queens of Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5CCCUneQ1I&feature=channel  
3. Shirt as a Medium to Foster Pride in the Philippines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQszB31Coq8&feature=channel  
4. Katrina Halili and the Signing Stars in Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnnQ_nV9CT0&feature=channel  
5. Toronto Mayoral Candidate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ9h4OrGl5A&feature=channel

For post-G20 summit coverage:
1. Sideshow at Bubbles for Peace Protest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UzRcsnvnSY&feature=channel
2. Bubbles for Peace Protest at Queen's Park in Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITFztAw9-5o&feature=channel

For video coverage of the G-20 summit, click the following links:
1. The other side of protest at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buJvzJm-E5A&feature=channel
2. Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRYY6xhuOW8&feature=channel
3. Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEX5W6Xgfy8&feature=channel
4. Part III: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWm3_GAw4Kk&feature=channel
5. Part IV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q6OMZ53xzA&feature=channel
6. Part V: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4IIek0-_ZE&feature=channel
7.Part VI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQO7om6gPro&feature=channel
8. Part VII: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icDJYp_Fx-c

Board Disciplines Filipino Doctor for Negligence, Incompetence

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Volume 4, Issue No. 27
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Wednesday, July 28, 2010
~ The Medical Board of California has placed a prominent Filipino doctor in San Diego, California, on probation for three years because of what it said was his "gross negligence, incompetence and repeated negligent acts" in the case of a 73-year-old male patient who had succumbed to rectal cancer. The board said Edwin M. Yorobe, the 64-year-old physician-surgeon who practices in the city's Tierrasanta district, will be monitored by the State of California and made to undergo educational course in addition to continuing medical education. His doctor's certificate was revoked but the revocation is stayed.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


SAN DIEGO-BASED DR. EDWIN M. YOROBE
California Medical Board Disciplines Prominent
Filipino Doctor for Negligence, Incompetence


By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

TORONTO - The Medical Board of California has slapped a prominent Filipino doctor in San Diego with disciplinary actions for what it said was his "gross negligence, incompetence and repeated negligent acts".

The board identified the offending physician as Edwin Mendez Yorobe, MD, who practices in the city's Tierrasanta neighborhood and mainly caters to the Filipino community.


The 64-year-old physician-surgeon and his wife, Barbara Yorobe, are quite well-known for their high-profile socials through their monthly tabloids, which they both edit, and elaborate fund-raising schemes for their humanitarian foundation.

Yorobe, a 1970 graduate of Manila's Far Eastern University, was accused before the board by Barbara Johnston in her official capacity as MBC executive director. The complaint, billed as Case No. 10-2007-181010, was filed on June 10, 2009 in Sacramento, California.

Among others, it alleged that Yorobe had been "grossly negligent in the care and treatment" of a 73-year-old man, identified only as T.G., who had sought treatment in March 2003 and died one-and-half-years later from rectal cancer.

"Respondent (Yorobe) departed extremely from the standard of care for treatment of a 73-year-old man with rectal bleeding by failing to properly and fully investigate the exact cause of T.G.'s rectal bleeding with timely and appropriate diagnostic studies," according to official documents made available to this reporter.

For this reason and several others detailed in the accusation, Yorobe was also accused of "incompetence" and "repeated negligent acts".

(To see the details of the accusation, please click the link, click "public record documents", then click "decision":
http://licenselookup.mbc.ca.gov/licenselookup/lookup.php?LicenseType=A&LicenseNumber=29827 )

The board and Yorobe agreed to settle the case on the condition that Yorobe gave up his right to contest the charges.

Yorobe's admissions, the board explained, "are only for the purposes of this proceeding, or any other proceedings in which the Medical Board of California or other professional licensing agency is involved, and shall not be admissible in any other criminal or civil proceeding".

Under the terms of the "stipulated settlement and disciplinary order", Yorobe's physician's and surgeon's certificate is revoked.

"However, the revocation is stayed and respondent (Yorobe) is placed on probation for three years", the settlement said. It took effect on April 29, 2010.

One of the conditions of that settlement is that Yorobe attend a department-approved educational course of at least 40 hours per year, in addition to attending 65 hours of continuing medical education.

"The educational program or course shall be aimed at correcting any areas of deficient practice or knowledge," documents said.

During the entire years of probation, Yorobe's practice will be monitored by one or more licensed physicians and surgeons. He is also prohibited from supervising physician assistants.

Yorobe was not immediately available for comment by either email or by phone.

(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted, on condition that the author and the publication be properly credited. By Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 4, Issue no. 27, July 28, 2010).


For other stories, please visit:
1. http://travelsthemes.blogspot.com/  
2. http://gotchajournalist.blogspot.com/ 

For news videos, please visit and click the links:
1. Beauties & Queens of Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5CCCUneQ1I&feature=channel  
2. Shirt as a Medium to Foster Pride in the Philippines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQszB31Coq8&feature=channel  
3. Katrina Halili and the Signing Stars in Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnnQ_nV9CT0&feature=channel  
4. Toronto Mayoral Candidate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ9h4OrGl5A&feature=channel

For post-G20 summit coverage:
1. Sideshow at Bubbles for Peace Protest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UzRcsnvnSY&feature=channel
2. Bubbles for Peace Protest at Queen's Park in Toronto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITFztAw9-5o&feature=channel

For video coverage of the G-20 summit, click the following links:
1. The other side of protest at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buJvzJm-E5A&feature=channel
2. Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRYY6xhuOW8&feature=channel
3. Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEX5W6Xgfy8&feature=channel
4. Part III: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWm3_GAw4Kk&feature=channel
5. Part IV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q6OMZ53xzA&feature=channel
6. Part V: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4IIek0-_ZE&feature=channel
7.Part VI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQO7om6gPro&feature=channel
8. Part VII: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icDJYp_Fx-c

Katrina Halili Plays It Cool in Toronto

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Commentary
Volume 4, Issue No. 26
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /


. . . . . A community service of Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Sunday, July 25, 2010
~ Looking at entertainer Katrina Halili, one gets the impression that she's cool and collected after that sexual episode of several months ago. The tumult that visited her seems gone. And now she appears making headway to reestablish herself as a respectable actress/burlesque dancer/singer/model of empowerment (?) despite all the salacious stories and naughty pictures that flood cyberspace. Here in Toronto, she was like a machine, stamping her pictures with her signature and posing for souvenir photos. She merely smiled at any given turn, never saying a word, not even making a greeting to fans who braved the rain and patiently lined up for hours at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Her organizers could have done a better job loosening her among these people if only to make them feel how her shameful ordeal had fortified her.

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PREROGATIVE
By Romy Marquez

AN INTERVIEW AT THE MABUHAY FESTIVAL & TRADE SHOW
Katrina Halili, Entertainer, On the Cusp In Toronto

TORONTO - This Saturday (July 24, 2010) I had gone to the Mabuhay Festival & Trade Show at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on a singular mission: I wanted to have a fresh look at the entertainer Katrina Halili.

Weeks before, I had made known my interest in interviewing her. That seemed to have been accepted even as my request bounced from one person to another until it finally landed on the lap of a guy named Josh, her handler in Toronto.

I had the least interest in entertainment reporting. It's not one of my strong points. But when a potential big story happens to come my way -- as did the Katrina Halili sexual brouhaha -- I will manage.

I'm not used to being physically pushed; anyone's hands brushing with any part of my body is quickly repelled. It's a reflex acquired from early years of police reporting and has now become part of me.

My mention of this is necessitated by rough treatment I got from the festival security, a squad of yellow-shirted volunteers who thought brawn was mightier than brains, which they might not have possessed anyways.

Nobody, and I mean no one, has ever muscled me out of any event; one, because I don't gate-crashed; two, I make sure I have a legitimate reason to be where I am, and I did have one; three, I am not one to be intimidated by appearances and numbers.

Josh was rattling over his cellphone, looking helpless at the number of people trying to get close to Katrina as she sat and autographed pictures for her army of camera-wielding fans. They were subdued and quiet, if you ask me, and a lot less, compared to the boisterous throng that filled the cavernous Eaton Center when the teen singing sensation Charice Pempengco made her appearance in Toronto several weeks ago.

Fans and curious onlookers queue up for an autographed photo of Katrina Halili and a chance to be pictured with her at the Mabuhay Festival & Trade Show on Saturday (July 24, 2010) at Metro Toronto Convention Centre in downtown Toronto.

I had the thought that the people who queued up for Katrina's autograph were there out of curiosity, they're not her loyal followers -- precisely to see how she managed to pull herself up after that unpleasant sexual episode with her lover, the infamous beauty-doctor-turned-bit-actor Hayden Kho.

If Josh and the volunteer security had known this, they would have realized that the autograph-signing beside the huge GMA booth right across from the stage would be quite unwieldy. And that there would be delirious fans wanting to take Katrina's picture, and their own pictures with her.

Katrina sat between her two companions, the veteran actor German Moreno to her left, and another actor named Joh Nite on her right. That seating arrangement already guaranteed Moreno and Nite to be in the picture frame at any angle, meaning it'd be nearly impossible to take Katrina's picture alone.

The non-thinking security detail further complicated that situation by providing another layer of cover, that is, by positioning themselves directly in the line of sight of the cameras. As a result, people moved this and that way, raising their arms, and hoped to have the chance to shoot once those in front move any which way. And once they moved, either the face or the heads of the security detail occupied most if not the entire camera screen.

Thus the nudging, elbowing, shoving for positions. The security detail must have thought that by barricading Katrina, they secured her. That is quite flawed. But what can one expect? They're there for their brawn and for their ability to yell a command. Did they have functioning brains? Well, ask people who were there. For me, they've got no more than a tail between their legs, and that's being honest.

I stood at the corner where people exited after getting their autographed pictures, waiting until Katrina finish up and I will have my interview. Josh had guaranteed that I will have that opportunity. "Are you Romy?" he asked, which confirmed to me that my request for a one-on-one interview had finally reached him and her.

But the overzealous security had seen it differently. One was so diligent to keep me out by physically shoving me, the others were equally belligerent they threw dagger looks. I didn't give an inch of ground. There was no problem getting physical if they willed it. I told them I wasn't going to leave until I've taken my pictures at that moment when an interview with Katrina wasn't possible.

Was Katrina worth all the trouble that I had to face and bear, I asked myself. The reasoning mind said the issue has gone past her. The issue now was whether to allow a bunch of volunteers to intimidate journalists in the conduct of their work. That was what disturbed me.

The trek to the festival was only secondary. It happened to be the venue where the interview would take place. And so with an open mind and a hope that I would be allowed to view her in a different perspective, I went to the convention centre. The festival and trade show had very little appeal to me, specially after it momentarily turned into a political forum for some Toronto candidates.

Are the organizers so colonial-minded as to willingly allow these candidates time to pander to Filipinos in their own festival? One even had the gumption to say "Filipinos are the Italians of the Pacific" (conversely, does that statement make the Italians the Filipinos of the Mediterranean?).

I had spent a whole day at the festival waiting for the interview that never happened. You see, I'm trying to erase from my mind the images I had of Katrina galloping in bed with her lover, the sex maniac Hayden Kho.

Journalist-friends in Manila had provided me with a video collection as graphic in details as the one involving Katrina. So young, so indulgent, so immersed, so happy . . . I said then to myself.

But that was supposed to be a couple in love engaged in an animal act in the privacy of a motel room . . . until the lustful Kho had videotaped it and the whole world came to know Katrina by her sexual submission to Kho.

It's pointless to argue whether or not that video had been repeatedly watched. The first time I viewed it (which implies there was a second, and a third, etc.) the visuals stuck on my mind. I tried to look deeply and I found nothing to disprove it's pure and simple carnal. Kho performed for his hidden camera. Katrina naively gave in to his every wishes.

Whenever I tried to replay it in my memory, the face of Katrina comes out, not as the innocent victim that her handlers and the Philippine media had tried to portray, which is understandable, but as the willing, conscious, gratification-seeking sex partner of Kho.

I don't mean to be harsh. I don't mean to judge her by this incident with Kho. I don't mean to condemn her, either. The fact is her romp in bed with him is deeply embedded in memory.

I was trying to purge it completely, at least to give Katrina a chance to move away from that sexual template that has defined her and will continue to define her even as she tries mighty hard to look sweet and collected.

Well, this first step towards that has failed. I waited the whole day looking forward to the interview. And I wasn't going to wait several hours more until she has found the time for me.

Josh has failed her. The festival's security detail failed her. The organizers failed her. Her home studio GMA failed her. I only needed a few minutes for that glimpse that might have changed how people view her. That attempt also failed.

(PREROGATIVE is the title of my longest-running column in several newspapers in the United States, specifically in San Diego and Los Angeles, California. In Chicago, Illinois, that column carried a different name and is called PASSWORD. - Editor)

For other stories, please visit: http://travelsthemes.blogspot.com/  and: http://gotchajournalist.blogspot.com/ .

For other news videos, please visit:
Toronto Mayoral Candidate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ9h4OrGl5A&feature=channel

For the G20 summit, click the following links:
1. The other side of protest at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buJvzJm-E5A&feature=channel
2. Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRYY6xhuOW8&feature=channel
3. Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEX5W6Xgfy8&feature=channel
4. Part III: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWm3_GAw4Kk&feature=channel
5. Part IV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q6OMZ53xzA&feature=channel
6. Part V: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4IIek0-_ZE&feature=channel
7.Part VI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQO7om6gPro&feature=channel
8. Part VII: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icDJYp_Fx-c

(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted, on condition that the author and the publication be properly credited. By Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 4, Issue no. 26, July 25, 2010).

Mayoral Candidate Outlines Plans for Toronto

Phil Taylor hopes to capture Toronto City Hall (background) come election day.

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Volume 4, Issue No. 25
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /


. . . . . A community service of Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

 The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Wednesday, July 21, 2010
~ A candidate that Filipinos may consider for mayor of Toronto is a communications expert, a seasoned sales, marketing and management professional who is also a book author. Because he is kind, honest and compassionate, Phil Taylor would appeal to thousands of voters belonging to the invisible minority, Filipinos included. His kind of governance, if he wins the race, relies more on the spirit of the law and less on the letter of the law. He vows to be transparent, less bureaucratic and inclusive.
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PHIL TAYLOR PROMISES SERVANT LEADERSHIP
Toronto Mayoral Candidate Vows Honesty, Transparency

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ


TORONTO - Author Phil Taylor, the latest to join the ever-widening field of candidates for mayor of Canada's largest city, vows servant leadership that's honest, kind and transparent, and governance with less politics and bureaucracy.

 "My vision for Toronto is not based on mere legislation that can all too often overlook common sense, but rather the language of the heart," he said at the unveiling of his five-point "Core Values and Driving Force" in a meeting on Sunday (July 18, 2010) with his supporters.

The English- and French-speaking Taylor became the 33rd aspirant upon filing of his candidacy last week.

The huge number of candidates reflects the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural makeup of Toronto, which is home to an estimated 2.6 million people where half that number is in the "visible minority", meaning non-Caucasian in race and non-white in color.

Phil Taylor greets an unnamed supporter.

Filipinos, about 200,000-strong, is one of the largest in the visible minority group, topped by immigrants from South Asia, the Chinese and the Blacks. Filipinos are ahead of the Arabs, the Latin Americans, the Southeast Asians, the West Asians, the Koreans and the Japanese in the rankings.

It's this huge group of voters that Taylor is tapping to put him in office on election day on Monday, Oct. 25, 2010.

Taylor is a multi-awarded speaker and trainer, an expert in sales, marketing and management and in communications. He's also authored a book,"Set Yourself on Fire!", recently published and released in Toronto.

"Perhaps what we need in this city is less politics and less stringent governing bureaucracies that only lead to confusion, resentment, related laws suits, and high costs of running city to rather an adoption of the spirit of the law in all our affairs rather than a simple dependency on the letter of the law," he said in a press statement.

Phil Taylor at Toronto's financial district.

Consistent with his compassionate stance on governance, Taylor has adopted the song "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" by Annie Lennox and Al Green as his campaign slogan so that, he explained, "we can rise up and stand up in front of the world, as the greatest multi-cultural city on the globe, as a living testament, a beacon of kindness and peace that sets the bar for what is right, kind noble, and productive! This is the dream and vision for Toronto!".

If elected, he promises to bring back the meaning of public servant in all the city's operations.

"It is not for the government and its employees to dictate on law abiding, taxpaying citizens, but rather for the people to be served in a manner that is noble, polite and dignified," Taylor said. "This is the task and the perquisite for public service."

The mayor, according to him, "is not appointed to govern, but to serve! The higher the calling, the more servitude is required! The more responsibility given to the leader the more humility and selfless service is required. This principle is particularly true if we are to have a truly unified and cooperative community."

Taylor emphasized that his will be "a government that does not govern, but a public office that undertakes its true calling which is to serve."

"To serve with honesty, integrity and truth in all of its affairs," he added.

For other stories, please visit: http://travelsthemes.blogspot.com/  and: http://gotchajournalist.blogspot.com/  .
For news videos about the G20 summit, click the following links:
1. The other side of protest at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buJvzJm-E5A&feature=channel
2. Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRYY6xhuOW8&feature=channel
3. Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEX5W6Xgfy8&feature=channel
4. Part III: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWm3_GAw4Kk&feature=channel
5. Part IV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q6OMZ53xzA&feature=channel
6. Part V: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4IIek0-_ZE&feature=channel
7.Part VI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQO7om6gPro&feature=channel
8. Part VII: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icDJYp_Fx-c


(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted, on condition that the author and the publication be properly credited. By Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 4, Issue no. 25, July 21, 2010).